At the start of week 3 in 2024, I went to the office to work on Monday, but apart from going out then I stayed at home most of the week. My cold has been getting better, but on Sunday, I woke up in a lot of pain.

2024, week 3.

Monday, 15th January.

I woke up on the sofa in my lounge, around 7:45 am. I got myself a coffee, took my tablets, & updated last week's blog page before getting myself some cereal & another coffee. At around 11:30 am, I got on my disability scooter & went to Tecnyshop to pick up the slippers I had ordered on Amazon.

After collecting my slippers, I went to the office to meet Martin. We were joined by Dave & sat talking until around 3 pm. When I left, I went to the Mercadona superstore to get some bread. Whilst there, I got myself a burger from the deli counter & sat inside the shop & ate it before leaving. I stopped at La Petit Bistro to see my friend Alan, who was calling bingo there. I arrived in time to participate in the flyer at the end of the bingo session but I didn't win anything. When Alan finished, he joined me & we sat talking & had a beer or two.

I left the bar & went straight home. When I got home, there was a parcel outside my apartment door. Judging by the size of it, I assumed it was a new computer chair I had ordered. It wasn't due to be delivered until next week, but at least I have it. I took it inside & left it boxed up, ready to unpack & assemble tomorrow. I checked the slippers that I had picked up & they fit fine, they will keep my feet warm on the cold stone floors in my apartment.

My knee hurt quite a lot when I got home, but my ankle felt and looked a bit better today. I got myself a coffee and a painkiller and settled down on the sofa to watch some TV. At about 7 pm, I made myself a sandwich, put the heating on & settled down on the sofa again.

Tuesday, 16th January.

I must have fallen asleep on the sofa again last night. I woke around 4:30 am, used the bathroom & went back to sleep on the sofa. When I woke up at 7:30 am I got a coffee & then unpacked my new computer chair. I put it together & was very happy with it. The one I did have, had a fault & needed a new part as it wouldn't stay at the higher level. It is still a good chair but won't stay up high enough for me to use comfortably.

I did some work on my website & stopped for something to eat at around 2 pm. I cooked myself some chicken & had it with mashed potato. To wash it down I had a coffee with condensed milk but also added the contents of a chocolate orange drink that I had bought in Brazil. The capsules don't fit my coffee machine so I just poured the contents into my normal coffee. It tasted lovely & I was glad I hadn't just thrown the capsules away.

This afternoon I found some training videos for me to watch to help with a video editing package I bought myself last week. I watched some television & had an early night, going to bed at around 10:30 pm.

Wednesday, 17th January.

I woke up at around 7 am, got myself a coffee & sat down at my computer to watch some of the training videos I found yesterday. I lost track of time until my friend Kate told me she was on her way. Kate arrived at 11 am & I let her in. I scanned some documents for her & transferred them to PDF so that she could email them off. She also collected my older air fryer that I had given to her & Martin.

As Kate was sitting chatting with me, my front door security system sounded & when I looked on the video screen, it was Amazon, delivering my new air fryer. I opened the door & took the delivery & as I took delivery of the new one, Kate left with the old one. I unpacked the new air fryer & placed it in the kitchen. I had a little reorganization of the kitchen & then went to get some shopping.

I went to the Economycash superstore on my disability scooter. I got my shopping & went straight home to get myself some lunch. After lunch, I went online to watch a couple of training videos & then started to attempt to make a new video for my website. It was hard to get used to the new software but I persisted. It was 8:15 pm before I forced myself to stop & turn the computer off.

I watched some TV until I went to bed at around 10:30 pm.

Thursday, 18th January.

I woke up at 6 am today. I felt good so I got up & got myself a coffee & took my tablets before checking for messages online. After reading my messages I logged in to the administration of my website & continued to add descriptions to some of the photos in my   Brazil holiday photo albums.

I spent all morning working on my website & stopped at about 2 pm to get a sandwich for lunch. After lunch, I continued working on my website until around 5 pm when I had a call from my sister Karen & we had a good chat. We haven't spoken for a while & it was great to catch up again. After speaking to my sister I got myself a pizza for my tea & then carried on working on my website until 8:15 pm.

After I stopped working on my website I put my pyjamas on & settled down on the sofa to watch TV before going to bed at about 11 pm.

Friday, 19th January.

I didn't sleep well last night, I woke up at 12:30 am, 3:30 am, 5:45 am & then again when my alarm went off at 7:45 am. I finally dragged myself out of bed & went to make a coffee. It was then I made a terrible discovery, I had run out of coffee. I got myself a ginger lemon tea but it didn't have the same instant effect as the coffee generally has.

I worked on my website till around 10 am & then got on my disability scooter to go to the Mercadona store to get some coffee. On the way to the store, I dropped off all my paper & cardboard in the recycling bin. After I had got my shopping I realised that my friend Mike would be having coffee at the cafe near him, at the Oasis in Los Narejos. I continued to the cafe & saw him there with a group of other friends. After having my coffee, his friends asked me to show him the way to Mercadona so he could do his shopping there.

We formed a convoy of two disability scooters & I led him to the store. It took a bit longer than expected as Mike wouldn't turn his speed above snail's pace. I slowed down & showed him the easiest route & took him right to the front door. I told him that he could go inside on his disability scooter to get his shopping but he wouldn't go in. He asked me for directions to get to Consum where he normally goes, he had complained all the way to Mercadona about the prices in Consum but now wouldn't go anywhere else. I told him Consum was just along the road, pointed it out to him, & then headed home. As the old saying says "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink¨. In Mike's case the saying would be ¨You can lead a grumpy old man to a cheaper store but he will still moan & go back to the other store¨.

When I got home, I got myself a coffee & sat down in front of my computer to work on my website. It was supposed to be getting colder this weekend & I didn't expect to go much further than my bedroom, kitchen & lounge for a few days. I sat working on my website & added ALT tags to the photos in my photo albums & added descriptions to some of those that didn't have them.

There wasn't much on TV tonight, so I went to bed at 10:30 pm.

Saturday, 20th January.

I got up when my alarm went off at 6:45 am today. I got myself a coffee & sat down to work on my website for a few hours. At 9 am I took a break from work & got myself some breakfast, a home-cooked full English breakfast. After breakfast, I sat back down at my computer & carried on working on my website until 1:30 pm when I stopped working to watch the Arsenal vs Crystal Palace football match on TV.

This morning I had predicted that Odeggard would score in the fourth minute of the game & that Arsenal would win 6-0. In the fourth minute of the game, Martin Odeggard swung at the ball in the Crystal Palace penalty area & fired his shot against the defender. Arsenal played well in the first half & led at halftime 2-0. In the second half, they continued to play well & when the game finished, they had won 5-0. If Martin Odeggard had scored his attempt in the fourth minute my prediction would have been spot on. 

The temperature hadn't warmed up much at all so I put my heating on before continuing to work on my website. After another couple of hours of work, my eyes were getting sore so I stopped working & sat down on the sofa to watch TV. I kept dosing off as I watched TV & unable to keep my eyes open anymore I went to bed at 10 pm.

Sunday, 21st January.

I woke up this morning at 7 am & got up to get a coffee. Both my feet were in a lot of pain. They hurt even when I am sat down & am not putting any weight on them. The right one hurts the most & it feels like the damaged ligament may finally have broken loose from what is left of my ankle. The left ankle feels similar & I wonder if ankles can have sympathy pains. 

After indexing some pages on Google this morning I get another coffee, this one with chocolate in it as well. My ankles still hurt a lot & I have to take a couple of painkillers. I hoped they worked quickly as I intended to cook myself a pot of chilly con carne today, it will be difficult if I am in more pain than normal, I can sit on a chair in the kitchen but it takes up a lot of room & gets in the way.

The painkillers I took knocked me out & I fell asleep on the sofa for a couple of hours. When I woke up I did feel a bit better & I managed to sit on a chair in the kitchen & cook myself a chilli con carne. I say I cooked a chilli con carne but it wasn't really as I had forgotten I didn't have one main ingredient, the chilly powder. I put it in the slow cooker & let it cook all evening, trying it at about 9 pm. It tasted great & I will use it for pie fillings.

I took another painkiller before going to bed at 10 pm.